Major Spoilers for Once Upon a Time, Episode 6: ''The Shepherd''

Credit:
ABC
Photo: Lana Parrilla as the Evil Queen on ABC's Once Upon a Time

On this week’s episode of Once Upon a Time Season 1, Episode 6: "The Shepherd," we delve further into the relationship between David (Josh Dallas) and Mary Margaret (Ginnifer Goodwin), and the inexplicable pull they have towards each other in Storybrooke, the little town where time stands still.

We, of course, know that the connection they feel is due to the fact that they are really Prince Charming and Snow White, under an amnesiac spell by the Evil Queen (Lana Parrilla), and it’s just a matter of time before they reunite in the real world despite unfortunate obstacles — like David’s wife.

But not everyone is happy about this match made in fairytale heaven. The Queen’s alter-ego, Regina, who’s done her best to keep the two apart using good old-fashioned manipulation, tries to guilt Mary Margaret into staying away from her soulmate. What she isn’t expecting is for the schoolteacher to exude some of the courage that comes so naturally to her alter-ego, Snow White.

“Mary Margaret is feeling the sparks of something she can’t quite yet put her finger on, having these urges to stand up to Regina,” Ginnifer told us at a recent set visit to Vancouver. “She can’t quite follow through, but something is being kindled in her. She thinks it might be the influence of Emma (Jennifer Morrison). She attributes it to having her first real friend.”

Credit:
ABC
Photo: Ginnifer Goodwin as Snow White in ABC's Once Upon a Time

Emma, of course, is the daughter of Charming and Snow White, leading us to wonder how Mary Margaret would feel if someone told her that her new bestie is really her own child.

“It would be ridiculous,” says Ginnifer. “It’s scientifically impossible to her. They’re the same age too, so it’s physically impossible. But she has an inexplicable draw towards Emma, so I’m sure she could made to believe that in some past life they could have been mother/daughter.”

Emma also feels a pull towards her fairytale parents, and can’t explain why.

“She obviously doesn’t know or doesn’t believe that [David’s] her father,” says Jennifer. “But I think she’s had those moments both with Mary Margaret and with [David], of feeling oddly connected to them, like she’s known them in some way that she can’t explain. And there’s a familiarity that’s instantaneous, compared to other people that she comes across in town.”

But while none of the three can wrap their mind around being related to each other, Emma’s first encounter with her father in Storybrooke will have tones of daughterly rebellion.

“She lies to him, the first time she meets him,” reveals Jennifer. “I was like, ‘How funny that I’m lying to my dad!’ I just thought it was kind of great — that my first interaction is that.”

With such familial habits already in place, could a revelation be far behind? Only time will tell!